


Day One Hundred Seventy-Seven || Under Control

by 365daysofsasuhina



Series: 365 Days of SasuHina 2019 [177]
Category: Naruto, Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood, Death, F/M, Gen, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 16:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19380079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/365daysofsasuhina/pseuds/365daysofsasuhina
Summary: With their world in shambles, families are ripped apart, and their people killed. Left alone with only each other, Hanabi and Hinata are almost without hope...but rescue comes for them by proxy as a boy called Sasuke is sought by his family.





	Day One Hundred Seventy-Seven || Under Control

The raids have been happening for decades. 

Anyone of el’ven blood is at risk. While most have gone into hiding after the collapse of the elemental council, some don’t...or can’t. Their el’kor cousins - those without the blessings of the elements incarnate - far outnumber them. While many find obscure lands in which to hide and eek out a feral living...not everyone can follow in their footsteps.

Hinata’s family had been living in a coastal city. Her father, employed by an el’kor fisherman, worked under the radar: his secret for his skills. Few other ships could manage the catches of their vessel with a mage of water aboard. And while some grew suspicious, they kept hidden for a number of years. 

The sisters’ mother, Hanako, kept them closely guarded at home: not the beautiful manor they’d had before the Rift, but a step above squatting in a shack. Hinata and Hanabi were content most days - both were far too young to remember the time before the fall. This was all they had even known.

This went on for years...until the guard caught them.

Dragged back to his home, Hiashi was forced to his knees, blade at his throat as the squadron of soldiers confronted the family.

But it wasn’t just soldiers that came. Among them were beady-eyed, callous-handed men who stank of filth and spirits.

...slavers.

Too desperate for her husband’s life, Hanako did not fight. And her daughters, young and untrained, were easy pickings. 

“Hm…” Taking the woman’s hair in his fingers, the obvious leader ignored her shiver of disgust. “She’ll fetch a fair price at a brothel. Get her bound and take her to the docks.”

“No, please - my daughters, I -!”

“They’re no longer your concern,” he cut in, lip lifted in a sneer. “They’re a bit young, yet...and if they’re aqua mages, they’ll have their uses...we’ll take them inland, sell them to someone who needs their ven.”

Two of them then moved to grab the girls. Both took to kicking and screaming, desperate to get away. “Mama! Mamaaa!”

“Quit your yappin’!” the ringleader barked, taking Hinata’s wrist in a painful grip. “Little bloodbinding’ll get you under control…!”

Teary-eyed with fear, Hinata couldn’t suppress a scream as a knife cut into her palm. Dipping a pricked finger into the blood, he drew a strange symbol on her inner forearm.

It burned like hot iron, glowing a bright white, then fading to black...then to nothing.

“There now…” Giving a cruel grin, he spat, “Sit!”

Like her legs were cut out from under her, Hinata sank to the floor with a painful thump.

“Good, good...now, the younger brat.”

Hanabi’s shrill shrieks of pain and terror soon followed, both girls branded with their own blood. Huddled together, they watched, shaking as they moved to Hiashi. His head was bowed, heavy with the weight of his family’s fate.

“Now...you were making your employer a sound profit with that ven a’yours,” the slaver muttered. “I reckon someone else’ll pay handsomely to have you. Make back what we gave that bastard to sell you out, eh…?”

Looking up with icy eyes, Hiashi had no retort.

“Bind him.”

Bringing the blade from his neck to his arm, another slaver made to cut Hiashi’s flesh. But that left his captor vulnerable for just a moment. With a roar, the patriarch summoned a wave from the nearby harbor with all the strength he had in him. It crashed against the dingy seaside home, bursting through windows and crumbling parts of the wall.

Though both daughters screamed, it did not reach them.

Struggling to control the element, Hiashi made to drown his foes...but they were many. Though swept aside, a few guards behind him through the doorway made to regain their footing.

One was wielding a pike.

With its longer reach, he struck the steel through Hiashi’s back.

Giving a cry of agony, his hold on the water was lost, seeping back to the ground and slithering to the sea. Around him, several of the slavers were already drowned...but the leader remained, sputtering and hacking.

“That  _ whoreson _ …!” he retched, shaking water from his form as Hiashi struggled to cling to life on the floor. Giving the el’ven a furious kick to the ribs, he spat on his body. “Just cost me my profit, you bastard! You’d best hope your daughters fetch me some shiny gold pieces, or they’ll repay me in  _ other _ ways…!”

Choking through blood, Hiashi stared past the slaver’s legs to his daughters huddled in the corner. Unable to speak, his apology went unuttered, shown only in the regret in his eyes.

Shivering and sobbing, they watched as the life left him.

“Get them in t’fucking cart! We’ve wasted enough time.” Stepping over Hiashi’s corpse, he made to leave, his remaining man hauling a girl up under each arm.

That was a week past.

Sitting in the rear of the cart with several other el’ven children, Hinata holds Hanabi to her side, gaze distant and unseeing. They’ll soon reach the city where they’re to be sold. All she can hope for now is that they’re bought together: a matching set. If she loses her sister…

Hanabi dozes fitfully, twitching and whimpering. Sparing a hand to pet at her hair, Hinata has little else to offer against the nightmares. Even now the visions of their mother being hauled away, and their father’s murder are fresh in her mind.

She doubts they’ll ever fade.

But before she can ponder anything else, there’s a desperate whinny from the horses. The cart jostles, stirring the children from their collective stupors. Shouts break out...and Hinata can smell smoke.

“Nata, what do we do?!” Hanabi cries, clinging to her sister.

“Just...h-hold on!” Holding her close, she moves to the back of the wagon with the others. Abandoning the moving matchbox, they get a full view of the scene.

Fires scatter over the roads, other carts in the caravan ablaze. The slavers wield bows and blades, attempting to fight off people in the trees that line the road. Fiery arrows are shot with deadly accuracy: hitting both human and wooden targets.

Then several people come from the trees, wearing masks and clothed in cloaks. Fire bends to their will, and Hinata can’t help a gasp

Those are igni mages…!

The children huddle together, joined by others from the remaining carts. While the ambush plays out, several figures move toward them: the same masked, cloaked people. Two women gesture for calm. “Don’t worry! We’re here to get you out! Stay still and quiet, little ones - you’ll soon be free!”

Holding her little sister tightly, Hinata can only watch as the fighting slowly comes to a stop. Bodies litter the road, great black plumes of smoke rising from the carts, horses scattering as they’re cut loose.

“Sasuke?!”

Among the children, one boy cries out. “Brother!”

Another el’ven, barely older than the eldest among them, races forward to meet one of the children. Alongside him, one of the women kneels to embrace them both. She must be their mother.

Others then gather, removing their masks to reveal faces set with red eyes. “Keep calm, children,” a square-jawed man rumbles. “We will gather the bodies, and use the blood to undo your seals. Patience.” He then joins the reunion, and Hinata can’t help but guess: they must be the leaders of this band of rebels...here to free one of their own that was taken.

If not for him...they surely the rest would…?

Identifying their sealers, the children are, one by one, released from their blood bonds. Cries of relief fill the air as Hinata and Hanabi join those unbound.

“We will do our best to find ways to get you back to your families,” the leader, called Fugaku, announces. “Those who have none to return to...we will find you new homes.”

“Please, sir,” Hinata inquires in a hoarse whisper. “Our f-father, he was...he was killed! And our mother was taken, I k-know not where!”

“Stay calm, little one. We’ll do what we can. But for now, we’ll all retreat to our camp. You all need food, and water...and rest.”

Nearby, the one called Sasuke sits closely with his brother, clinging to him as Hanabi clings to Hinata. Noting the parallel, she hesitantly approaches. “Are...are you all right?”

He gives a weary nod. “...I knew they’d come for me…I knew they would…”

Looking to his brother softly, the older then lifts his ruby gaze to Hinata. “...you are disciples of Auquiana, are you not?”

“Y...yes.”

“Then surely you came from the coast...there are few of your kind here.”

“We have to find our mama!” Hanabi cuts in, earning a sympathetic glance.

“...we’ll try to help you find her. But first, we must organize. We did not expect so many other children to have been captured…”

“So...we’ll stay with you…?” Hinata dares to ask.

“For a time. Our resources are limited - we hide here, in these woods. We must be careful. But our scouts will try to return those we can home. Anyone else...we will find  _ new _ homes for.”

“But our mother -?”

“May be difficult to find. Our kinds are trafficked all over the lands,” Itachi cuts in firmly, but gently. “...we will do our best. For now...you should rest. The next few days will be trying. Stick close to us. We’ll keep you safe.”

Doing her best not to cry, Hinata settles down beside them, holding her sister tightly. They’ve escaped one tragedy...but can they escape the rest?

**Author's Note:**

> Welp, this...isn't really what I wanted this to be, but I'm honestly exhausted @~@ I had a really...not great day, and writing just isn't really happening well today. But I tried.
> 
> So in another era of my original fantasy verse...this happens. The elves are forced into hiding, and many are captured by humans and forced into slavery of various forms. The era I've written up until now with this challenge is a long time after this - decades and decades, when things are again beginning to change. I've wanted to do some pieces with this particular setting. I just...didn't get to do the best job of it this time around OTL Sorry, guys.
> 
> Anyway, it's not exactly...shippy, but I might be able to do more another time to get more into that. I try not to let these get too long, and I'm too tired to do so tonight anyway. But either way, I hope you enjoyed it - thanks for reading~


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